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Vol. 27 April 2015
Spring

New Breeze

S pec i a l Feat u reEfforts to Promote Smart Houses— Leveraging the spread of HEMS and ECHONET Lite —The ECHONET Lite Specifications and the Work of the ECHONET Consortium
Smart Houses – HEMS Initiatives –— Certification of Smart Meter Communication —Japan’s Power Meter Deployment with ECHONET Lite over IPv6

Initiatives on Regulation of Transmission Media Between Smart Meters and HEMSNew Breeze Vol. 27 No. 2 Spring

New Breeze

April 2015

C O N T E N T S

ISSN 0915-3160

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Editorial Committee
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Members: Ministry of Internal Affairs andCommunications, Association of Radio Industries
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Hitachi, Ltd., JAPAN BROADCASTINGCORPORATION, KDDI CORPORATION,
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National Institute of Information andCommunications Technology, NEC Corporation,
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The Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association,
The Telecommunication Technology Committee,
and Toshiba Corporation

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Special Feature

Efforts to Promote Smart Houses— Leveraging the spread of HEMS and ECHONET Lite —The ECHONET Lite Specifications and the Work of the
ECHONET Consortium

Smart Houses – HEMS Initiatives –— Certification of Smart Meter Communication —Japan’s Power Meter Deployment with ECHONET Lite over IPv6

Initiatives on Regulation of Transmission Media Between Smart
Meters and HEMS

Sector Member

Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT)

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Efforts to Promote Smart Houses— Leveraging the spread of HEMS and ECHONET Lite —Takuya Tatsuishi

Deputy Director
Information Economy Division,
Commerce and Information Policy Bureau
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry

1. Introduction■ Figure 1: The smart community and smart house concepts

Since the Great East Japan
Earthquake of March 2011,
Japan has been beset withsevere shortfalls in electricity
production, and has had tostep up its measures relating
to energy conservation. These
measures include promoting
smart communities, where
g re ater conven ience a nd
efficiency is achieved by using
IT (information technology) tointegrate and optimize systems
such as energy supply andtransportation. In particular, it
is expected that Japan would be
able to contribute significantly
to the promotion of energy
savings in the household sector
if progress is made in the spreadof smart houses (an essential ingredient of smart communities).
A smart house is one that uses IT to control storage
energy-saving equipment in the home, centered on a HEMS
(Home Energy Management System), and implements energy
management by using electric power prudently and widely. The
use of IT for fine-grained control of electric power demand enables
the implementation of advanced energy management techniquescalled “peak cut” and “peak shift”.
The pros and cons of introducing HEMS and other energy
management systems are strongly dependent on scale of thecustomer base and their decision-making viewpoint. For example,
heavy users of electricity such as factories and large-scale buildings
can achieve large energy savings, and since they are able toconcentrate on investment efficiency as a corporate activity, they
are likely to go ahead and introduce these systems if they decide
they are profitable, even if it will take a relatively long time torecoup their investment. On the other hand, ordinary households
stand to benefit less from energy-saving measures because they
use less electricity per building. Also, people tend to concentrate
more on non-economic factors such as convenience and lifestylefulfillment than on investment efficiency, so they are less likely to
install energy management systems.
But although the energy consumption per building may besmall, there are approximately 50 million ordinary households inJapan, and together they account for a substantial proportion of
the nation's total energy demand. It is therefore becoming essential
to promote the spread of smart houses by enticing consumers withnew services backed by appropriate policies.
■ Figure 2: Characteristics of the energy management
marketNew Breeze Spring 2015

1

2. Specific initiatives
As mentioned in the previous section, the key to promoting
the spread of smart houses lies in creating new services that are
not confined to energy management. Therefore, the government
should promote the following three measures: (1) standardizationof communication specifications, (2) cultivation of businesspractitioners (aggregators), and (3) preparation of an environment
for the creation of new services.
(1) Standardization of communication specifications
For efficient and effective energy management, it is important
to be able to communicate with and control smart meters anddomestic stored-energy equipment produced by any manufacturer.
For this reason, the government initiated a dialog with experts
and businesses in the private sector, and in February 2012 it
decided to recommend ECHONET Lite as the communicationinterface between HEMS and smart meters or domestic storedenergy equipment. ECHONET Lite is a Japanese communication
standard that is expected to become an international standard
during 2015. The government is also studying communication
media and drawing up specifications for achieving stronger
connectivity, especially for the eight types of equipment thatare envisaged to make a large contribution to domestic energy
management (smart meters, photovoltaic solar panels, storage
batteries, fuel cells, gas/oil water heaters, air conditioning, lighting
equipment and EV chargers).
As of February 2015, ECHONET Lite supports over 90
types of equipment, and compatible products in all eight of the key
categories have already appeared on the market. The developmentof compatible products and investment in this market is expected
to increase in the future as environments are set up for purposessuch as establishing third-party verification schemes to ensure
connectivity.
(2) Cultivation of business practitioners (aggregators)
To promote the spread of energy management, it is essential
to cultivate players who can develop it as a business. In energy
management, it is generally the case that achievable energy savings
are lower for small-scale customers, making it harder for themto recover their investment. Aggregators who provide energy
management services through the collective management of small
consumers are therefore likely to play a key role in the promotionof energy management in the household sector.
During the fiscal years from 2011 to 2014, with a view to■ Figure 3: Standardization of communication specifications■ Figure 4: Market penetration of the eight key equipment categories

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New Breeze Spring 2015

■ Figure 5: Smart apartment concept

promoting the spread of energy management through aggregators,
the government launched subsidized projects for aggregators to
introduce energy management systems in small buildings andapartment blocks. In this way, in addition to making progresswith cost reductions through the creation of initial demand, theaggregators can increase their involvement not just with electricity
providers but also with communication providers, equipment
manufacturers, and other businesses that have no involvementwith the conventional energy supply industry.
(3) Preparation of an environment for the creation of newservices
Despite the steady progress being made in the standardizationof communication specifications and the cultivation of aggregators,
small-scale consumers in the household sector attach importancenot only to economic rationality but also to viewpoints such as
convenience and lifestyle, as noted earlier. To meet this demand,
it will be necessary not only to further enhance the energy
management services, but also to create attractive services thatuse electricity data obtained from HEMS, so as to attract more
■ Figure 6: Image of new services

consumers and improve the prospects of this business.
On the other hand, there are two problems that stand in
the way of creating new services based on electricity usage
data obtained from HEMS. One is the standardization of
an information infrastructure for the efficient acquisition ofelectricity usage data by a broad range of services including
SMEs and venture businesses. The second is the development
of data handling rules that strike the right balance between datautilization and the protection of personal information.
To resolve these issues and prepare an environment where newservices can be created, the government began preparing a largescale HEMS information infrastructure in 2014. This project
involved introducing HEMS into 14,000 homes, building a largescale HEMS information infrastructure system to perform cloud
management, standardizing this system, and performing a study ofprivacy measures based on the opinions of actual consumers. The
plan is to complete this project by the end of the 2015 business yearwith restrained deregulation of the retail electricity market.

3. Conclusion
There are various issues to overcome in promoting the
spread of smart houses. These include expanding the market for
HEMS and ECHONET Lite products, growing the numberof aggregators, creating attractive services, and providing anenvironment for these services. However, advances in the spreadof smart houses will reap large benefits for Japan, including thecreation of new industries for the utilization of data, and expansionof the market for compatible consumer electrical products.
Against this background, it is possible that deregulation of theretail electricity market scheduled to start from the 2016 businessyear may provide an opportunity for smart houses to spread.
Specifically, it is thought that a wide variety of operators will enter
the marketplace as competitive funding for attractive services
using power usage data obtained from HEMS. The government
is moving forward with short-term intensive environmental
improvements, but the ingenuity of private-sector providers willbe essential if smart houses are to spread. In the future, it is hopedthat the synergistic effects of both efforts will provide a large boost
to the spread of smart houses.

New Breeze Spring 2015

3

The ECHONET Lite Specifications and the Workof the ECHONET Consortium
Hisashi Kodama

Managing Director
ECHONET Consortium

1. Introduction
To realize a sustainable society, it is important to take on thehousehold sector where energy consumption is continuing toincrease. In recent years, there have also been rapid advances in the
spread of systems that can help reduce energy consumption. These
include not only energy-saving appliances, but also energy-creation
systems such as photovoltaic solar panels and fuel cells, and energystorage devices such as batteries. This is adding to the complexity ofusing energy efficiently in the home.
It is therefore essential to introduce HEMS (Home Energy
Management Systems) that can control these devices to achieve
efficient operation, which means it is vital that all manufacturers
provide controllers and appliances that use a standardized interface.
This article presents an overview of the ECHONET Litespecifications,[1] which define an open standard interface for smart■ Figure 1: Support services provided by ECHONET

4New Breeze Spring 2015

house equipment, and introduces the activities of the ECHONET
Consortium, which drew up these specifications and is working to
spread and promote smart house systems.

2. Past work of the ECHONET Consortium
ECHONET Lite is an open communication protocolthat supports smart houses and HEMS. Although there had
previously been means-based discussions on how equipment could
be connected over a network, these resulted in standards based
applications and needs, and standardization was promoted fromdiscussions on what sort of world we were trying to create, and how
to go about realizing it. In fact, six application domains such asenergy management and home healthcare were established, and theaim was to devise specifications that enable the provision of services
that can resolve social issues in these domains. Figure 1 shows the■ Figure 2: The ECHONET Lite and ECHONET specifications
support services that are provided by
ECHONET.
The origins of the ECHONET
Consortium can be traced back to
the Scientific Research Committee
on 21st Century Home Networks(October 1996 – May 1997), which
consisted of businesses in theelectrical and domestic appliancesectors. In June 1997, it asked theMinistry of Economy, Trade andIndustry (then known as the Ministryof International Trade and Industry)
to promote the development andinternational standardization of
networks supporting equipment frommultiple vendors. The ECHONET
C onsor t iu m w a s fou nded i n
December 1997 in order to carryout this work. Since then, with
the nation's support behind it, theby the committee in July 2011. In the following December, theConsortium has continued to work on drafting specifications
ECHONET Lite specifications were opened to the general public,
and promoting the spread of smart house technology. Today its
making it an open standard both by name and by nature.
membership comprises over 240 companies.
Our specifications can be broadly classified into two types:
3. ECHONET device objects
the ECHONET specifications and the ECHONET Lite
The basis of the ECHONET specifications is the idea of a
specifications. Figure 2 shows their respective protocol stacks.
deviceobject, which is described below.
The first version of the ECHONET specifications was drawn
Itisenvisaged that household networks will be used to connect
up in 1999, and by 2009 it finally became an international standard.
awidevarietyof equipment sold by many different manufacturers,
This process models consumer electrical equipment and facilities as
so what is actually needed is compatibility between diverse systems.
objects and standardizes the protocols to form a basic framework
This is harder to achieve than with business systems, which are
for ECHONET. At that time, there were no communicationeasier to manage. Take air conditioners, for example. The methods
media that could be used in the home without carrying out
used to implement functions with embedded software based on
installation work, so we developed our own communication media
measurement data from a group of sensors will differ from one
using specified low-power radio communication and power line
manufacturer to the next, and even from one product to the next.
communication, and specified its structure for all seven layers of

the OSI model.
But since then, substantial
developments were madew it h v a r iou s for ms ofcommunication media, andthere were also many calls
for adding Internet Protocol
support and allowing free useof communication media.
As a result, the specification
was pulled back to define
only layers 5 through 7 of the
OSI model, and the transportlayer was left free so that IP
addresses can be used. [2] To
facilitate the installation ofgreater numbers of devices, we
also drew up the ECHONET
Lite specifications with aslimmed-down middleware
section. These were published■ Figure 3: Overview of ECHONET device object

New Breeze Spring 20155

■ Figure 4: ECHONET device object types

Organization for Standardization)and IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission). Specifically, the
ECHONET specifications are divided into six parts, and are proposed
via two routes: IEC TC100, andISO/IEC JTC1/SC25/WG1. The
ECHONET device object became
an international standard in October
2013, and work on the ECHONET
Lite protocol is also continuing witha view to achieving standardization
early in the 2015 business year.
IEC TC57 is also working
to sta nda rd iz e t he inter facespecifications between smart grids
and customers, and is raising theinternational profile of ECHONET
Lite by proposing use cases thatinvolve these specifications.

To enable all air conditioners to be represented in a common
manner, they have to be standardized as device objects based on an
5. Promotion of ECHONET Lite
abstract model. By accessing and controlling the property values
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is promotingof this standardized object, an application program can provide
standardization relating to smart houses to respond to calls fromcompatibility with all air conditioners without any modifications.
society for greater energy savings, and has therefore started up
Figure 3 shows an outline of an ECHONET device object.
the “JSCA International Standardization WG Smart HouseECHONET device objects offer more than just simple
Standardization Working Group”. At the third study meetinginteraction at the remote control command level (like “ON/OFF”
held in February 2012, ECHONET Lite was recommended as
buttons), but also standardize the functions of highly sophisticatedthe standard interface between HEMS (controllers) and domestic
equipment, making it possible to implement the advanced control
equipment, and between HEMS and smart meters.[4] Thus, sinceneeded by energy management applications.
April 2012, each manufacturer has started investing in the market
Figure 4 shows an example of a defined device object.[3]for ECHONET Lite equipment. After that, a “JSCA Smart
Currently, over 90 different kinds of ECHONET device objects
House/Building Standards/Business Promotion Study Group”
have been defined. These include security-related devices such(the successor of the abovementioned committee) was establishedas fire sensors and human detection sensors, energy-consuming
in June 2012. This Study Group defines eight key equipment
domestic equipment such as air■ Figure 5: International standardization activities
conditioners and lighting, andequipment for the creation and storageof energy, such as photovoltaic power
generation systems, domestic fuelcells and domestic storage batteries.
Members of t he ECHONE T
Consortium have proposed revisions
to the device object in order to adapt
to new devices, and a permanentworking group of experts for drafting
new functions has been proposed andis continuing to expand.

4. International
standardization
Figure 5 shows the progress madein international standardization of the
ECHONET Lite specifications. The
ECHONET Consortium is engaged
in de jure standardization activities
sanctioned by the ISO (International

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New Breeze Spring 2015

■ Figure 6: Number of certified ECHONET Lite devices (as of December2014)
categories for smart
houses (smart meters,
photo v olt a ic s ol a r
panels, storage batteries,
fuel cell, electric vehicle
charging systems, airconditioners, lighting,
and water heaters),
formulates operationalg uidelines for thise q u i p m e nt , [5 ] a n dpromotes the spreadof HEMS equipment.
To support productdevelopment in eachcompany, the HEMS(ECHONE T Lite)
Certification Support
Center was established in the Kanagawa Institute of Technology
respond to the needs of companies over a wide range of activities.
to support certification applications for equipment developed using
Through our efforts to spread ECHONET Lite specifications
the ECHONET Lite specifications, and to provide a productand products, we hope that the consortium will contribute to thedevelopment environment and interconnection environment.
realization of a smart, sustainable society by exploiting the benefits
Figure 6 shows the number of items of ECHONET Liteof consumer electrical equipment and household facilities that haveequipment that have so far been certified (as of December 2014).
been cultivated in Japan so far in order to promote international
Through the above-mentioned cooperative efforts of industry,business development.
government and academia to promote the spread of smart houses,
REFERENCES
it can be seen that the market penetration of HEMS equipment[1] ECHONET Consortium: ECHONET Lite Specification Ver.1.11, http://www.echonet.gr.jp/
spec/(controllers and energy visualization) is being promoted. Thus, the[2] The Telecommunication Technology Committee: TR-1043 home network communication
introduction of HEMS equipment is currently being advanced as ainterface implementation guidelines[3] ECHONET Consortium: APPENDIX, Detailed Requirements for ECHONET Device Objects,
step towards the spread of smart houses.
Release F, http://www.echonet.gr.jp/spec/
However, realizing true smart houses involves more than[4] Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry: Collected publications of the JSCA International
Standardization WG, Smart House Standardization Study Group, http://www.meti.go.jp/prejust energy savings through visualization. It is also necessary
ss/2011/02/20120224007/20120224007.html
to optimally control the energy creation equipment and energy[5] Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry: Smart House Building Standards and Business
Promotion Study Group (4th) handouts, http://www.meti.go.jp/committee/kenkyukai/
storage equipment for an even greater effect, and to offer services
shoujo/smart_house/004_haifu.html
that enable the user to feel the benefits of this technology. In the
future, as the next step, we will strengthen our efforts to facilitatecontributions to the promotion of commercialization by member
companies, such as rapid investment in the market for equipmenton the controlled side, and support for commercialization of theeight key equipment categories.
It is also essential to ensure interoperability in order to promote
Cover Artthe spread of these devices. At the ECHONET Consortium, we
are working on a certification system for ECHONET Lite bydrawing up certification specifications and accrediting third-party
certification organizations. We are also working on to help member
companies with product development and certification by holding
Meisho Edo Hyakkei
regular events called Plugfests that give people the opportunity to
Sumidagawa Suijin nomori Massaki
actually try out interconnectivity with equipment from multiple(Suijin Shrine and Massaki
vendors.
on the Sumida River,

6. Conclusion
In this article, I have introduced the ECHONET Litespecification, which provides an open standard interface forsmart houses, and the activities of the ECHONET Consortium.
In April 2014, the ECHONET Consortium changed from a
private organization into a general incorporated association. As
we strengthen our systems, we intend to work harder than ever tofrom the series One Hundred
Famous Views of Edo)

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)

Woodblock print:
Courtesy of Sakai Kokodo Gallery

New Breeze Spring 20157

Smart Houses – HEMS Initiatives –— Certification of Smart Meter Communication —Masao Isshiki

Professor, Department of Home
Electronics, Kanagawa Instituteof Technology
Director, HEMS Certification
Support Center

1. Introduction
This article introduces the situation of smart electric energy
meters in Japan, especially with regard to their certification.
Since meters are thought to be a key element of smart houses,
it has been decided that they must be able to work closely with
HEMSs (Home Energy Management Systems). However, meters
are only provided by electric power companies, whereas HEMS
services will be provided by other companies via open markets.
This means that the meters are public goods installed in all houses
and shared by many related businesses. In this regard, securing theinteroperability and communication performance of these devices
is of key importance in creating an environment for cooperative
services.
A smart meter consists of three parts: (1) an electric power
meter that has been certified based on the Measurement Act, (2)a communication unit that carries information between the meterand the electric power company (using communication methods
specific to this particular company), and (3) a communication■ Figure 1: Routes for Smart Meter Communication

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New Breeze Spring 2015

Yuji Sasagawa

Research Staff, Smart House
Research Center, Kanagawa
Institute of Technology

unit that provides data to the HEMS. As previously described,
the communication units for (3) must all use the same standard
protocol defined by the industry in Japan, and are required to pass
SMA certification (to certify compliance of the smart meter’sapplication layer) to ensure conformity.
SMA certification has been in operation since April 2014. As
a result, certified smart electric energy meters have been installedin limited areas since September 2014 by Tokyo Electric Power
Co., Inc., and since the October 2014 by Chubu Electric Power
Co., Inc.
The following sections present the background of smart meter
certification, the framework of the certification, and the future
prospects.

2. Background: Smart Meter Route B
In this section, we first explain what are meant by the terms“smart meter” and “route B”, and we discuss the significance ofroute B (the target of the certification).

■ Figure 2: The position of ECHONET Lite in a HEMS

A smart meter is generally defined as an electronic meterthat is equipped with a bidirectional communication functionthat allows the electric power company to read the meter and,if necessary, operate a breaker remotely. Such meters are also
expected to create cooperative services with HEMSs.
A more detailed description can be found in a report by the
Smart Meter System Study Group [1], which was established in
May 2010 to discuss the basic concepts of smart meters, theirintroduction, and their future prospects. This report set thedirection of smart meter deployment in Japan and triggered theirintroduction.
The smart meters being introduced on a wide scale in Japan arecapable of cooperating with HEMSs. Another significant pointis that all smart meters communicate using the same protocol,
allowing any private company or electric power companies toaccess the same information in a common format. It is therefore
no exaggeration to say that the smart meters in Japan are
revolutionary, cutting-edge devices.
Here we describe the communication routes whereby data is
obtained from smart meters. Currently, there are three routes,
called routes A, B and C. Figure 1 shows a conceptual illustrationof each route.
These routes were set forth in the report by the Smart Meter
System Study Group. Route A is the route used by electric powercompanies, mainly to obtain meter data for billing. Route B is a
newly introduced route, with which the meter data can be obtained
directly from the meter by household equipment. Route B has thefollowing three noteworthy characteristics:i) Its data is no different from the data obtained via route A(i.e., identical to the electric power meter information forbilling).
ii) Ordinary consumers are able to obtain this data withrelatively little expense and effort.
iii) It provides better real-time data on electric power
consumption than route A.
Point i) was published in the distributed material of the 14th
Smart Meter System Study Group meeting, and was underwrittenby the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. For electricity
providers, especially new entrepreneurs, this is the most important
point in researching businesses that utilize the route B information.
Of course this information is also useful for helping ordinary
consumers save on their electricity bills.
As for point ii), a HEMS controller device that has gained
SMA certification for route B is necessary to obtain data from thesmart meter. In general, route B communication is scheduled tostart earlier than route A. (Figure 2)
Those characteristics are premised on an open standard andsecured by third-party certification. The communication protocolin route B, ECHONET Lite, is an open standard, which meansthat all sorts of information related to route B are published, andthe essential data set is identical across the smart meters of allelectric power companies. The ECHONET Lite specifications
are published by the ECHONET Consortium [2]. Guidelines
to the configuration and operation of route B have also been
published by a committee [3]. It has thus been ensured that all thenecessary information for conducting business related to route B is
publicly available.
With regard to point iii), it is worth noting that route B also
provides data on the instantaneous electric power consumption,
which shows how much electricity is being consumed by the

New Breeze Spring 20159

whole household at any particular moment. This information isalmost useless without real-time handling, so route B is the only
way it can be delivered. As described in the use cases shown in
the guidelines, if consumers are presented with information about
their instantaneous power usage through a HEMS (or are able tofetch this information at will), then they can be expected to takeenergy/electricity-saving actions such as turning off unnecessary
appliances or adjusting the temperature settings of air conditioners.
Alternatively, a warning message can be issued when too muchelectricity is being used, which can be useful for preventing circuit
breakers from tripping unexpectedly.
The other information that can be obtained via route B, suchas the cumulative energy consumption measured at every fixed
period of time, and the current time, are fixed so as to be identicalto the information used for billing that is obtained via route
A. Other information related to billing, such as billing rates, is
not currently available via route B, although new entrepreneurs
entering the electricity retail business are expecting this situation■ Figure 3: SMA certification test system

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New Breeze Spring 2015

to change in the future.

3. Framework of Route B Certification
So far we have explained the characteristics of smart electric
power meters and route B. In this section, we describe theframework of certification according to the guideline [3].
A key point is that it requires the following three forms ofthird-party certification:i) Certification of the lower communication layers (mediapart),
ii) ECHONET Lite certif ication (protocol layer of
ECHONET Lite), andiii) SMA certification (application layer of ECHONET Lite).
For i), the guidelines specify eligible methods for the physicallayer and the layers below layer 4, and two methods are adopted
by the electric power companies. The primary communication
method is 920 MHz wireless communication (Wi-SUN(IP)) andthe complementary method is power-line communication (G3-

PLC). A third-party certification test ensures conformity up tolayer 4 (UDP) including the physical layers. Certification of bothcommunication methods has already started.
For ii) and iii), the HEMS Certification Support Center at
Kanagawa Institute of Technology has been named as the thirdparty certification organization by the ECHONET Consortium[4], and started providing certification in April 2014. For the
purpose of securing conformity and interoperability, the center
requires that the actual devices are submitted for both smart meterand HEMS controller testing.
Figure 3 shows the configurations of the SMA certification
test system.
Note that all the three certifications must be granted in
the correct sequence. After successfully completing the SMA
certification test, a registration certificate is issued and the device
is publicly listed on the ECHONET Consortium web site.
As of 12th February 2015, there are already 19 devices thathave achieved SMA certification and registration (eleven smart
meters and eight HEMS controllers), and this number will growsteadily when smart meters are introduced in earnest.
The HEMS Certification Support Center at Kanagawa
Institute of Technology is also performing interoperability tests(IOTs) on SMA certified and registered devices. By introducing
the actual smart meters from multiple electric power companies, an
IOT laboratory is provided to the applicants for SMA certification.
These interoperability tests are indispensable to developers because
they make it possible to provide customers with services that are
reliable but are also differentiated from the services offered byother companies.

4. Future Prospects
Environmental measures for the full-scale introduction ofsmart meters are now in an advanced stage of preparation. From
now on, service providers are expected to clearly present the meritsof improved interoperability. The government’s involvement willprobably shift towards the study of new services valuable toconsumers, and how to facilitate those businesses.
Converting the smart house market to an open platformbusiness is essential for the growth of this market. ECHONET
Lite is an open platform and occupies a key position. The
government is focusing its efforts on the cultivation of new
business associated with smart houses through this platform.
In the future, it is expected that various new forms of businesswill emerge to make use of electricity usage data, especially data
gathered through smart meters and HEMSs, and to provide

related services. In particular, since there will have to be many
services rooted in a particular region, we think that there is apressing need for the cultivation of HEMS integrators that can
respond to the needs in each region and provide their residents
with the services they require. This is a new form of business thatis expected to create circumstances that will cultivate housing
ventures in housing business areas. This would take the form ofa HEMS integrator service as a professional fusion of network
technology and residential services.
The introduction of smart apartment blocks (condominium
energy management system; MEMS) is also being promoted.
The smallest unit of a MEMS is a HEMS, and the application of
ECHONET Lite to small-scale BEMS such as tenant buildings
is also being studied. In the future, this market is expected to growin the same way as for smart houses.
At the same time, the emergence of many products andservices that are useful to users (residents) will also be required.
It is essential to create “living innovation” in order to realize
smart houses that are of value to the people that live in them.
It is essential for smart houses to provide a new kind of living
environment that nobody has experienced before, where household
electrical appliances, facilities and IT equipment work together
cooperatively.
Finally, we would like to send a message to all businesses thatare responsible for the growth of smart houses in the future.
As a major step towards the introduction of smart houses
throughout Japan, smart house (HEMS) businesses based on
the ECHONET Lite open standard interface have now started.
This highly significant development demonstrates that initiatives
such as the use of open standards, the open publication of various
guidelines, and the creation of a third-party certification scheme
have resulted in an environment where anyone can participate, andin the future we will promote activities to facilitate the creation ofan open HEMS platform that will benefit everyone.
We are looking forward to seeing how things turn out in the
future.
REFERENCES[1] Report of the Smart Meter System Study Group(http://www.meti.go.jp/committee/summary/0004668/report_001_01_00.pdf)[2] ECHONET Consortium(http://www.echonet.gr.jp/index.htm)[3] HEMS-Smart Meter B Route (Low Voltage Electricity Meter) Operating Guidelines [version
2.0](http://www.meti.go.jp/committee/kenkyukai/shoujo/smart_house/pdf/006_s03_00.pdf)[4] Smart House Research Center Web Site
(http://sh-center.org/hemsinfo/1755)

New Breeze Spring 201511

Japan’s Power Meter Deployment
with ECHONET Lite over IPv6

Masaki Umejima

Fellow, Echonet Consortium
Deputy chairman, Smart House
and Building Committee, JSCA
Deputy Director of the Auto-ID Laboratory
Keio University Research Institute at SFC

1. Discussions in JSCA regarding the
deployment of an open standard interface
The Information Economy Committee of the Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry’s Industrial Structure Council
held architecture-level discussions on the system theory aspects ofHome Energy Management Systems (HEMS) and on the overall
strategy regarding smart houses.
An energy management system is a system that implements
Demand Side Management (DSM) to improve the efficiency
with which energy is used at the customer side. There was a
discussion on the subject of whether the system architecture
should be vertically integrated with a closed interface, or should be
horizontally specialized with an open interface.
A review of the published proceedings will show that a lively
debate took place, but through these architecture-level discussions,
it was resolved that new participants should be encouraged torealize innovation in relation to smart houses, emphasis shouldbe placed on increasing the potential for added-value creation not
limited solely to energy management, and the design of smart
houses by horizontally specialized architecture based on known
standard interfaces should be promoted.
With a horizontally specialized architecture, the overall system
is built by using predetermined interfaces to assemble together
smaller systems (subsystems). This results in a configuration withredundancy in the connections between subsystems (Carliss Y.
Baldwin, Kim B. Clark, 2000).
Conversely, in a closed system that can be easily customized,
it is easy to obtain a streamlined design that has little redundancy.
Nevertheless, open systems that are wasteful in various aspects areused because of the larger incentives for the construction of many
diverse systems at the same time.
In an open system, the interface selection is done in advance.
Pre-selection of the interface is therefore essential. Anotherimportant is implementation. In gathering key players on demandside management such as Toshiba, Panasonic, NTT, Japanese
Government has launched Smart House and Building Committee
in JSCA.

2. Decision to recommend ECHONET Lite
based on a public-private partnership
ECHONET is a home network communication protocol
created by the ECHONET Consortium, which was founded in
1997 by a group mainly comprised of Japanese manufacturers ofconsumer electrical products with the aim of standardizing theimplementation of home automation.
The distinguishing feature of this protocol is that it facilitatesdetailed control of Japanese consumer electrical products. On the12

New Breeze Spring 2015

other hand, since it defines interfaces for everything from physicalmedia to application software, it is unable to adapt to the global
trend towards the increasing use of IP at the network layer.
In particular, the presence of ECHONET addresses, which
are intended to facilitate seamless connections to various physicallayers, presents a major barrier to the formation of an international
strategy. In response to requests from the public and private
sectors, the ECHONET Consortium investigated the ideaof abolishing ECHONET addresses and switching to a newcommunication protocol consisting of the ECHONET protocol
superimposed on a physical layer using ordinary IP addresses.
This culminated in ECHONET Lite, which was released by
the ECHONET Consortium on in July 2011. This specification
has a new interface definition that does not define the physicallayer and only defines parts of applications and the command
systems of domestic electrical appliances and facilities.
■Table 1: The leading smart house interfaces used inJapan and overseas
Type

Name ofspecification

SummaryJapan

ECHONET Lite

IP-based. Compatible with XML, etc.
Defined for over 80 different devices. Allows
detailed control

U.S.

SEP

IP-based. Predominantly offers superficial
access to crude controls

EuropeKNX

Considerable experience of
implementations in places on a larger scalethan residential buildings (e.g., BEMS)

The two changes made by the ECHONET Consortium tothe technical specifications (synchronizing with IP and leaving
the physical layer unspecified) have had a major impact. This isbecause it facilitated cooperation with other protocols that havealready been deployed and achieved international standardization.
It could also be said that these changes made the protocol easierfor new businesses and overseas businesses to use.
Although ECHONET Lite is sometimes criticized for beinga Japan-only specification, this is not actually true. There are still
many things that could be improved — for example, there are no
training systems in place (even for engineers), no SDK or softwaredevelopment environment has been set up, and the only countries
with equipment certification systems in place are Japan and
Malaysia. However, it would be incorrect to call ECHONET Litea national standard.
First, it has been ratified as an IEC standard. Second, the
ECHONET Lite specification is an open standard. Third, it
synchronizes with the direction of architectural maintenanceof the international M2M network maintenance. And fourthly,
it is being used in a growing number of implementations. The

simultaneous promotion of these four factors is bringing ■ Figure 1: The ECHONET Lite protocol stack
ECHONET Lite to a firm international standing.
The ECHONET Consortium has received the supportof the JSCA Smart House/Building Standardization andBusiness Promotion Study Group (established as a public/
private partnership in Japan), and selected the IEC as thestage for the acquisition of international standardization,and has been steadily promoting de jure international
standardization.
Specifically, it is participating in ISO/IEC JTC1 SC25
WG21, IEC TC57 WG21 and IEC TC100 in order toascertain the trends in international standardization andengage in consultations with experts from around the world.
Its main activities are outlined below. First, with regard to
the standardization of ECHONET Lite, progress is being
made in establishing the ECHONET Lite specification(ISO/IEC14543-4-3) as a communication standard in theform of a supplement to the ECHONET specification
I also hear from overseas manufacturers that they are studying(ISO/IEC14543-4-1,2) that has already become an international
the writing of their own country’s specifications for consumer
standard. Second, an expanded proposal is also being preparedelectrical equipment and sensor devices. By paying a registration
whereby control target objects (also usable in ECHONET Lite)
fee of just ¥300,000 (less than $3000 in U.S. dollars), anyone inare added to the ECHONET specification (IEC62394).
the world can help write the specifications for new ECHONET
The ECHONET Lite specification (which is the unique
Lite equipment.
intellectual property of the ECHONET Consortium) also playsa large role in open standard decision-making. All the technical
3. Leading implementation of “B Route” smart
specifications can currently be obtained via the ECHONET
metersConsortium’s public web site (http://www.echonet.gr.jp/spec/
In March 2012, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
index.htm).
Smart Meter System Investigation Committee announced that
With regard to this decision-making, the ECHONET
users of electric power usage information would be introducing
Consortium’s Representative Director Morio Hirahara has statedthe “B-route” technical specifications acquired directly fromthe following:smart meters. This smart meter specification, which required the“ECHONET Lite will only become valuable when everyone is
implementation of an IPv6 single stack and ECHONET Lite, has
using it and a market has grown around it. There is no point inachieved global recognition as an advanced architecture.
guarding it jealously. In manufacturing, a leading manufacturer
The author gained the opportunity to lead the development
can make anything from scratch, but in networks, one shouldof this specification, but in fact before the announcement of thisremember that value is expressed by connecting diverse equipment
specification, the smart meters had become a symbol of Japan’s
together. I hope that we can create products with the participation
closed architecture, but since this announcement there has been aof people from as many different business fields as possible.”
lot less criticism of this sort, especially from overseas.
In practice, since the “four decision-making”, the members
At present, the implementation of smart meters usingof the ECHONET Consortium rapidly increased from 20
B-route is progressing smoothly. This stepped up a gear with thecompanies to over 200, stimulating the activity of participation inopportunities presented by the July 2014 publication of smart
the ECHONET Consortium. (Figure 1)
meter specifications for the Tokyo area (TEPCO) and Nagoya
The number of devices compatible with ECHONET Litearea (Chubu Electric Power). The US media company Bloomberg
is continuing to grow steadily. At present, devices for which thehas reported that by 2020, 85% of Japan’s demand for electricity
specifications have been fixed account for not just consumer
will be obtained through smart meters. New smart meters areelectrical products but over 90 different types of equipment.
being installed in every home in Japan ahead of the rest of theConventionally, the properties of air conditioners, lighting andworld, and it is expected that Japan will lead the world in theother devices that use energy are defined, but the properties ofinnovation of smart meters and the IOT (Internet of Things).
photovoltaic solar cells, fuel cells and storage batteries are defined.
REFERENCES
In addition to consumer electrical products that use electricity, it is1) Baldwin, C.Y., and Clark, K.B. [2000], Design Rules: The Power of Modularity, Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press. (Translation by Haruhiko Ando [2004], Design Rules, Toyo Keizei)
also intended that the same ECHONET Lite protocol should be2) Chesbrough, H.W. [2003], Open Innovation, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
used to connect devices that create or store electricity in the home.
(Translation by Keiichiro Omae [2004], “Open Innovation” SANNO Institute of Management
Publication Dept.)
By using ECHONET Lite, a well-known standard interface,3) Ulrich, K.T. [1995],“The Role of Product Architecture in the Manufacturing Firm,” Research
to connect diverse types of domestic appliances to a network, we
Policy 24 419-440.
4) Masao Isshiki, Masaki Umejima, Morio Hirahara: The Significance of Smart House Interface
arrived at the implementation of an environment in which theyStandardization, OHM, October 2012, 22–27
can be integrally operated as a Home Energy Management System
5) Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry: Proceedings of Industrial Structure Council andInformation Economy Committee, 15th June 2011
(HEMS).

New Breeze Spring 201513

Initiatives on Regulation of Transmission Media
Between Smart Meters and HEMS
Takefumi Yamazaki

Senior Research Engineer,
Supervisor
NTT Service Evolution Laboratories

1. Introduction
Concern for managing the supply and demand for electrical
power increased in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake
in 2011, and with the increased awareness and demand in society
to install and spread use of smart meters—electricity meters
incorporating a communications function—in society, related
initiatives are becoming more active. The government-initiatedJapan Smart Community Alliance ( JSCA), established in2010 to unite the government and citizens in advancing smart
communities, created the Smart House/Building Standardization
and Business Development Forum. To promote the spread ofsmart meters and related services, The Forum has defined the
ECHONET Lite[1] standard interface between Home Energy
Management Systems (HEMS) and eight types of key devices,
including smart meters (the others are air conditioners, lighting,solar power panels, storage batteries, EV/PHV, fuel cells, and hot
water heaters).
This paper introduces initiatives for regulating the transmission
media and interconnectivity issues when using ECHONET■ Figure 1: Lower layers of ECHONET Lite

14

New Breeze Spring 2015

Lite as the communication interface between smart meters and
HEMS.

2. Issues with regulation of transmission
media for ECHONET Lite
ECHONET Lite is a communications standard set by
the ECONET Consortium[2], a standardization organization
comprising manufacturers of HEMS-related electronics,
communications providers, and power companies. It describes
in detail, the states and control commands for more than 90
types of HEMS-related devices. ECHONET Lite definescommunications protocols and device objects corresponding tolayers 5 to 7 of the OSI model (the upper layers), but does notdefine layers 4 and below. Since various media could be used
for transport, maintaining interconnectivity at the transmission
level has been an issue. The lower levels for ECHONET Liteare shown in Figure 1. To implement interconnectivity between
ECHONET Lite devices from different device manufacturers,
it is very important that they adopt and implement a well-known■ Figure 2: Overview of protocol stacks for ECHONET Lite lower communication layers

standard communication format and not their own originalformat.

3. Regulation of ECHONET Lite lower
communication layers at the TTC
Considering the above issues, the TTC Next-generation
Home Network System Expert’s Committee has created technicaland standardization documents[3][4] defining various standards for
the ECHONET Lite lower communication layers. An overview
of documents related to the standard is given below.

3.1 TR-1043 Home Network Communication Interface
Implementation Guidelines
T his technica l document [5] specif ies wel l-k now ncommunications formats and protocol stacks for the lower
communication layers of ECHONET Lite. An overview of these
protocol stacks is shown in Figure 2.
The document also gives a network model with configurationsof how smart meters and other HEMS related devices
are connected to a home network and describes a physicalconfiguration example based on the model. The physicalconfiguration example is shown in Figure 3.

■ Figure 3: Example physical configuration

New Breeze Spring 201515

3.2 JJ-300.10 Home Network Communication Interface for
ECHONET Lite (IEEE 802.15.4/4g/4e 920 MHz band)
This standard document [6] describes communication
format specifications for the physical, data-link, network, andtransport layers when using 920 MHz band radio as the lower
layer communications environment for ECHONET Lite. The
communication specification protocol stacks specified in JJ-300.10
and related standardization organizations are shown in Figure 4.
JJ-300.10 describes three modes: A, B, and C. For modes
A and C, it describes the Wi-SUN specification defined by the
Wi-SUN Alliance as the Route B connection format, along withparameters, and security specifications. For mode B it describes
the ZigBee IP specification defined by the ZigBee Alliance.
3.3 JJ-300.11 Home Network Communication Interface for
ECHONET Lite (ITU-T G.9903 Narrow band OFDM
PLC)This standardization document[7] describes communication
formats for the physical, data-link, network, and transport layers
when using power lines for the lower-layer communication
with ECHONET Lite. The protocol stack for communication■ Figure 4: Overview of JJ-300-10■ Figure 5: Overview of JJ-300-11

16

New Breeze Spring 2015

specifications in JJ-300.11 is shown in Figure 5.
3.4 TR-1052 HEMS-Smart Meter (Route B)
Communication Interface Detailed Implementation
Guidelines
This technical document[8] defines the required authentication
methods and connection sequences in detail for each of theHEMS-Smart meter (Route B) transport media. Specifically, acommon authentication ID and password format are specified
for the Route B connection so that the same authentication canbe used regardless of the selected transport medium. The Route
B authentication ID and password usage and detailed connection
sequence are also described for JJ-300.10v2 mode A (Wi-SUN IP)
and JJ-300.11.v2 (G3-PLC), and JJ-300.10v2 mode B (ZigBee IP).

4. HEMS-Smart Meter Route B
Communication Format Operational
Guidelines and state of adoption at various
power companies
JSCA is creating the “HEMS-Smart meter Route B
Communication Format and Operating Guidelines”[9], describing

■ Figure 6: Basic diagram of well-known standard media protocol stack for HEMS

agreed-upon common items for opening and operating RouteB communications between smart meters and HEMS, so thatthese connections can operate properly. The guidelines describe
the transmission media, communication formats and network
structure with reference to the TTC technical documents
introduced in Section 3. The protocol stack described in theseguidelines is shown in Figure 6.
The Route B communication formats adopted by each powercompany are also shown in Figure 7, with JJ-300.10 Mode A(Wi-SUN IP) as the main format, and JJ-300.11 (G3-PLC) as thecomplementary format, according to the operational guidelines
above.

5. Conclusion
We have introduced TTC standardization activities fortransport media, as necessary to guarantee interconnectivity ofdevices using ECHONET Lite, which is the standard protocol
used between smart meters and HEMS. Standardization of thecommunications interface between smart meters and HEMS
is a key component of using smart meters effectively, andimplementation of the standard specifications that include thesetransport media will be very significant for the proliferation andutilization of smart meters.
In the future, as ECHONET Lite is incorporated into various
devices, it will be necessary to support new communications
standards, and the standardization and technical documents willneed to be revised to ensure interconnectivity. As such, the rolethat the TTC and others will need to play will continue to besignificant.
Drafts of the TTC standardization and technical documents
discussed here were discussed at the New Generation Network
Promotion Forum, IP Network Working Group, Residential
ICT Strategic Working Group (lead by Prof. Yasuo Tan [JAIST/NICT]), and went through deliberation in the Next Generation
Home Network Systems Experts Committee before being
settled. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all those
involved.

References[1] ECHONET Lite, http: http://www.echonet.gr.jp/english/index.htm[2] ECHONET Consortium, http://www.echonet.gr.jp/[3] ITU Journal, “Trends in standardization of communication protocols on home networks in
the HEMS field,” Vol. 43, No. 11, 2013-11[4] TTC REPORT, Next generation home network systems experts committee (TR-1051,TR1052,TR-1053), Vol.29/No.2 2014-7[5] TTC Technical Report: TR-1043 Home network communication interface implementation
guidelines[6] TTC Standard, JJ-300.10 Home network communication interface for ECHONET Lite(IEEE802.15.4/4g/4e 920 MHz band)[7] TTC Standard, JJ-300.11 Home network communication interface for ECHONET Lite (ITU-T
G.9903 narrow band OFDM PLC)
[8] TTC Technical Report: TR-1052 HEMS-Smart meter (Route B) communication interface
detailed implementation guidelines[9] JSCA Smart house/building standards/business promotion forum, Reference #3: HEMSSmart meter Route B operating guidelines, 1st Ed. (2013-05), 2nd Ed. (2014-12)■ Figure 7: Route B communications at various powercompanies
RFP status for communication and related systems (Route B) at
each power company
Communication formats for routes selected by each power company(as of Sept. 2014)
Main format

Complementary
formatHokkaido ElectricPower Company

920 MHz band radio(Wi-SUN format (IP)

PLC
(G3-PLC format)

Tohoku ElectricPower Company

920 MHz band radio(Wi-SUN format (IP)

PLC
(G3-PLC format)

Tokyo ElectricPower Company

920 MHz band radio(Wi-SUN format (IP)

PLC
(G3-PLC format)

Chubu ElectricPower Company

920 MHz band radio(Wi-SUN format (IP)

PLC
(G3-PLC format)

Hokuriku ElectricPower Company

920 MHz band radio(Wi-SUN format (IP)

PLC
(G3-PLC format)

The Kansai ElectricPower Company

920 MHz band radio(Wi-SUN format (IP)PLC
G3-PLC format)

The Chugoku ElectricPower Company

920 MHz band radio(Wi-SUN format (IP)

PLC
(G3-PLC format)

Shikoku ElectricPower Company

920 MHz band radio(Wi-SUN format (IP)

PLC
(G3-PLC format)

Kyushu ElectricPower Company

920 MHz band radio(Wi-SUN format (IP)

PLC
(G3-PLC format)

The Okinawa ElectricPower Company

920 MHz band radio ](Wi-SUN format (IP)

PLC
(G3-PLC format)* Each company in principle considers installing the “Main format”, but selects the“Complementary format” when environmental or other conditions make this difficult.

New Breeze Spring 201517

Series 48

The only Broadcast Satellite Operator as
Successor to the World’s First Broadcast
Satellite Service

Takashi Yabashi

President and Chief Executive Officer
Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT)

1. Introduction
The world’s first direct broadcasting satellite (BS) service
in the 12 GHz band was started in May, 1984 by NHK (Japan
Broadcasting Corporation). This BS service to households
was made reality after eighteen years of research and with thecooperation of many organizations.
B-SAT was established in April 1993 to provide a successor to
the BS-3 services, which provided programs with high reliability
from NHK, WOWOW and HDTV promotion organizations,and to procure new satellites. B-SAT procured the BSAT-1 and
BSAT-2 satellites (launched in 1997 and 1998 respectively), BSAT2a and 2c (launched in 2001 and 2003 respectively) and BSAT3a, 3b, and 3c (launched in 2007, 2010 and 2011 respectively).
B-SAT contributed to the initiation of digital BS in 2000 and thetermination of analogue BS in 2011. B-SAT now makes full useof the 12 BSS Plan channels, with 34.5 MHz of bandwidth. As of
February 2015, the 28 broadcasters are providing 39 programs (28HDTV, 8 SDTV, 2 Data, 1 Audio) through BSAT-3a, 3b, and 3c(Figure 1). NHK enjoys over 18 million subscribers as of August
2014.

■Figure 2: Third back-up
station■Figure 3: Transportableback-up station

Shobu

Shibuya

Kimitsu

3. Toward new BS services

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications ofJapan announced in September 2014 that 4K UHDTV regularservice will start in 2015, 8K UHDTV test broadcasting will startin 2016 and 8K UHDTV regular broadcasting will start in 2018.
The new BS technical standard has been developed, including
features such as 16APSK modulation, which accommodates ahigh bit rate for UHDTV. B-SAT will maintain its contribution
to realizing BS UHDTV services in the future by implementing
new satellites, utilizing new bandwidth with high■Figure 1: BS programs through B-SAT satellites (As of February 2015)
performance, and facilitating new earth stations.
■Figure 4: Receivers for monitoring at eightlocations in Japan

2. BS services with high reliability
B-SAT makes every effort to maintain reliable BS services,with measures including: (1) Three satellites for 12 channels, (2)Two satellite control centers at Kawaguchi and Kimitsu, (3) Two
uplink stations at Shibuya and Shobu (A third back-up station will
be built at Kimitsu in 2015 (Figure 2)), (4) Transportable back-up
stations on vehicles (Figure 3), and (5) Receivers for monitoring ateight locations in Japan (Figure 4).

18

New Breeze Spring 2015

= A Serial Introduction Part 3=
Winners of ITU-AJ Encouragement Awards
In May every year, the ITU Association of Japan (ITU-AJ) proudly presents ITU-AJ Encouragement Awards to people who have madeoutstanding contributions in the field of international standardization and have helped in the ongoing development of ICT.
These Awards are also an embodiment of our sincere desire to encourage further contributions from these individuals in the future.
If you happen to run into these winners at another meeting in the future, please say hello to them.
But first, as part of the introductory series of Award Winners in 2014, allow us to introduce some of those remarkable winners;

Kimihiko Kazui

FUJITSU LABORATORIES LTD.
kazui.kimihiko@jp.fujitsu.com http://jp.fujitsu.com/group/labs/en

Video coding

H.265 standardization activity in JCT-VC
Currently I am participating in the activities of the JCTVC, a joint organization of ITU-T Q6/16 and ISO/IEC JTC1/
SC29/WG11 (MPEG), for the standardization of H.265 (a.k.a.
High efficiency Video Coding, HEVC). H.265 is designed fornext generation video applications such as ultra-high definition
TV (4K/8K) and achieves coding efficiency twice that of its
predecessor, H.264.
On this occasion, I received the 2014 ITU-AJ Encouragement
Award for my contribution to H.265 standardization, and inparticular, for the specification of the ultra-low latency operation
mode.
Emerging real-time video applications such as remote robot
operation need very low video transmission delay of less than one
frame interval (e.g. 16 ms for 60 Hz video), but existing standards

Takato Kawamurasuch as H.264 do not specify an ultra-low latency operation mode.
As a result, interoperable ultra-low delay video communication has
not been possible.
To solve this problem, I spent a year proposing to JCT-VC,
that an ultra-low latency operation mode be supported. This
operation mode was adopted in the H.265 draft in 2012.
JCT-VC is now working on an extension to H.265 for new
video applications such as Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).
In parallel with this extension work, activity has been launched
for a future new video coding standard. This future standard istargeted for the forthcoming telecommunication environment
enabled by 5G network technology, in around 2020.
I will continue my standardization work in ITU for enhancing
our life through video technologies.

NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)
kawamura.t-gc@nhk.or.jp http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

ITU-R SG6, WP6A

My experience in ITU-R activity and contribution to future broadcasting
technology for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, 2020

My international standardization activities in the field of
broadcasting spectrum at the International Telecommunication
Union Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) and WorldRadiocommunication Conferences (WRC) began in 2010. My
contribution to ITU-R Working Party 6A on broadcasters’ role in
the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011 became a part ofReport ITU-R BT.2299. It drew attention to the importance ofbroadcasting in emergency situations and Japanese broadcasting
technologies such as the Earthquake Early Warning Systemand “One-seg” mobile TV, which notified people of the disaster
quickly. Sharing our experience and technologies in the ITU-R

was highly regarded. In addition, I was also involved in frequency
sharing studies related to WRC-12 agenda items. These involved
protection of the Broadcasting Auxiliary Service (WRC-12
Agenda Item 1.25) and radio microphones (WRC-12 Agenda
Item 1.15).
Broadcasters use wide range of radio-frequency bands, suchas AM radio in medium frequency band, radio microphones inhigh frequency, terrestrial TV service in ultra high frequency, andsatellite TV service in super high frequency. This requires us tohave wide ranging knowledge regarding the various frequencies.
Also, in the sharing studies in these various frequency bands

New Breeze Spring 201519

between services related to the broadcasting and other services,reaching mutual understandings between experts in these services
was the real challenge for me.
Japan has completed migration of television from analogue todigital. In preparation for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in

2020, new challenges have just begun in the further developmentof broadcasting technologies such as 8K Super Hi-Vision andHybridcast. I will devote myself to the development of thesebroadcasting technologies and promote the latest Japanesetechnology internationally through ITU activities.

NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)

Yasuji Sakaguchi sakaguchi.y-fs@nhk.or.jp http://www.nhk.or.jp/corporateinfo/

Design and maintenance of digital terrestrial broadcasting network

Emergency Warnings, Anywhere and Anytime— Proposal and standardization of an Emergency Warning Broadcast System (EWBS) suited tobroadcasting conditions in Central and South America —The Japanese digital terrestrial broadcasting format(ISDB-T) has been adopted by 17 countries in South and Central
America and around the world. I was in Peru for three years
starting in September, 2009, as a JICA expert supporting theirimplementation of ISDB-T. I engaged in a wide range of activities,
including consolidating their frequency plan and broadcast
network, and educating broadcasting technologists.
I put particular effort into supporting implementation of theEmergency Warning Broadcast System (EWBS) using digitalterrestrial TV. Peru is a major earthquake country, so there isgreat interest in EWBS, and strong demand for my support.
However, emergency bulletins on television were not common
in Central and South America, so the implementation had to becustomized to suit local broadcasting conditions. After a long
period of surveys and studies, we proposed a simple emergency
warning system using text captions. The ISDB-T International
Forum, an organization of countries that have adopted ISDB-T,
is conducting standardization activities to harmonize the processof implementing digital terrestrial broadcasting in the overall

Central and South American region. Within it, I was thefounding chairman of the EWBS working group, and completed
the international agreement to use my proposed format as theinternational standard.
Initially, people in Peru touted ISDB-T as a magic box, thatwould “give us early warning of earthquakes through digital
television...,” but the implementation was not so simple. The
format had to be customized, standardized, operating rules
created, and transmitter and receiver equipment developed andintroduced to market. There were many things to be done. I had
to explain to the people of Peru how cooperation was necessary ateach step, in order to implement the system. In spite of difficulties
due to differences in language and culture and as a result ofcontinuous and persevering activity, the EWBS standard was
finally settled.
In the future, I want to continue efforts to support
implementations of EWBS throughout the world, and work topromote and spread its advancement.

NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)

Hitoshi Sanei sanei.h-fg@nhk.or.jp http://www.nhk.or.jp/corporateinfo/
ITU-R SG6 WP6A, ABU, ARIB/DiBEG

Standardization at ITU-R and Overseas Promotion Activities
through the ABU and ARIB

In the ITU-R Working Party 6A, I did work including
addition of interference protection ratios for ISDB-T and IMT
to the planning criteria Recommendation for digital terrestrial
broadcasting, and created new Recommendation on planning
criteria for terrestrial multimedia broadcasting for mobile
reception using handheld receivers such as ISDB-Tmm. In the
Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), I was project leader for
Mobile Digital Multimedia Broadcasting, a technical committee
transmission topic area, and there gave reports on trends regarding

20

New Breeze Spring 2015

One-Seg, multimedia broadcasting, and area One-Seg in Japan.
In the Digital Broadcasting Experts Group (DiBEG) of the
Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB), I worked
on customizing technical standards and operating guidelines
for countries like the Philippines and Botswana, which haverecently adopted ISDB-T. On one hand, we are spreading the
ISDB-T systems recommended by ITU-R overseas, but we arealso working to revise ITU-R Recommendations on planning
criteria for existing digital terrestrial television services, to deal

with broadcast bandwidth in newly adopting countries and otherbroadcasting systems in neighboring countries.
Currently, I am engaged in the promoting adoption ofbroadcast services such as Hybridcast and 4K/8K broadcasts.
Regarding Hybridcast using HTML5, we are introducing its
status in Japan, which is advanced in this area compared to othercountries, through ABU-hosted workshops on operation andpromotion of integrated broadcast-broadband services. We arealso extending domestic services and publishing information foroverseas markets.

With 8K Super Hi-Vision, we have various initiatives to start
test satellite broadcasts in 2016, start satellite broadcasts in 2018,
and spread it in a major way for the 2020 Olympic Games inTokyo, for which planning has begun. For example, we are actively
holding public viewings within Japan and abroad to give more
people experience ultra-realistic viewing.
By deploying these services successfully in Japan, we believe it
will contribute to deploying Hybridcast and 8K Super Hi-Vision,
as standardized by ITU-R, overseas as well.

BHN Association

Fumie Fukushima fukushima@bhn.or.jp http://www.bhn.or.jp/official/english
International Cooperation

Telecom for Humanitarian Support Activities at BHN
Since I joined BHN in 1997, I have been involved ininternational collaboration. I did not have much experienceor specialist knowledge in information and communications
technology (ICT) or international cooperation. Therefore, in myfirst few years of being involved in support activities, I endured
many hardships with providing initial response assistance activities
in disaster-hit areas and other dangerous areas. However, throughwide-ranging experiences, I was truly able to learn a lot.
When providing disaster relief for earthquakes and tsunamis,
it is necessary to obtain permission from the disaster-hit country’s
government before starting activities. Even though it is an
emergency situation, permission is necessary for things like NGO
registration, using transceivers, and setting up FM radio stations.
Additionally, the difficulty of doing this depends on the country’s
disaster conditions, level of confusion, and level of acceptance of
support organizations. The ability to hire local staff that havea lot of experience and good connections has a large effect on
the success of such activities, so discretion is needed in hiring
personnel.
At the time in which our other project involving building
wireless networks in medical facilities in Afghanistan was being
carried out, there were many incidents of suicide bombings, as wellas kidnappings and abductions of foreign NGO staff. Therefore,
extreme care was taken regarding safety measures while carryingout these life-or-death activities. Once public order was restored

and on-site work could resume, we still had to be careful every day
to wear the same clothing as local women, travel in vehicles withbullet-proof glass, and watch for disorder on the roads.
We put our things in order before leaving Japan, and when
we arrived at a stopover such as Dubai or New Delhi on the way
home, I can remember the indescribable feelings of relief andrelease I felt, thinking, “Well, it looks like I’ll get home safely
now…”
Although I have told many stories of adversity, last year
we received a wonderful report that a graduate of our firsthuman resource training session was appointed Chairmanof the Uzbekistan National Committee on Information andCommunication Technologies (equivalent to a Cabinet Minister inJapan). This feels like a real success after many years of hopes andefforts from past chairmen and leaders.
As BHN approaches its 25th Anniversary, those that havebeen involved with the work will inevitably repeat past mistakes
and regrets, but our activities continue to advance as continuing
training and post-project monitoring become more emphasized.
We will continue to build cooperation with many NGOs,
telecommunications organizations, and organizations forinternational cooperation as we continue our activities. Throughthis, we hope to increase the number of people who care about
these activities.

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New Breeze

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